China Worried About Terrorist Pigeons

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China Worried About Terrorist Pigeons

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday October 1, 2014 @02:19AM from the lesser-known-cousin-to-carrier-pigeons dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A pleasant event was planned for the 65th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. A ceremony at Tiananmen Square would release 10,000 pigeons at sunrise to symbolize an era of peace. Unfortunately, even symbols of peace can apparently remind people of violence. Chinese authorities searched all 10,000 pigeons for "dangerous materials," after the government was concerned they might be used for attacks. The pigeons' feathers were checked, and they were given a cavity search as well. The reports did not indicate what kind of "dangerous materials" these pigeons might be carrying. It's unclear whether any pigeons disclosed terror plots under interrogation.

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Re:Happy Wednesday from The Golden Girls! by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 02:21 · Score: 0

I wish that be Bea Arthur had been able to give me a golden shower before she died.
Can they search the pigeons where I live? by jd2112 · 2014-10-01 02:21 · Score: 5, Funny

They always seem to be dropping 'dangerous materials' on my car...

--
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
Why they line up to work as slaves for Apple... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 02:26 · Score: 0

The pigeons' feathers were checked, and they were given a cavity search as well.
You can work at slave labor for Apple, or you can cavity search 10,000 pigeons.
1. Re:Why they line up to work as slaves for Apple... by FatdogHaiku · 2014-10-01 04:58 · Score: 1
  
  It's all a smoke screen. Some guy was caught screwing pigeons and had to come up with a story...
  
  --
  You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
pigeon holed by schlachter · 2014-10-01 02:26 · Score: 3, Funny

the authorities didn't want to do they cavity search, they were worried it would pigeon hole their career.

--
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
1. Re:pigeon holed by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 02:53 · Score: 0
  
  Isn't being pigeonholed better than being cornholed?
2. Re:pigeon holed by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:15 · Score: 0
  
  Not if you are the Great Cornholio.
3. Re:pigeon holed by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:25 · Score: 1
  
  Cornholio only wants to wipe his ass. He doesn't want it to be fucked.
4. Re:pigeon holed by Skiboy941 · 2014-10-01 03:43 · Score: 1
  
  Dammit, you made me spit out my cereal.
5. Re:pigeon holed by TheCarp · 2014-10-01 04:01 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  However, this time it was based on a credible threat of reports of pidgeons overheard shortly before the event exclaiming "Coup! Coup!"
  
  --
  "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid by lesincompetent · 2014-10-01 02:26 · Score: 1, Informative

Somebody suddenly remembered project X-Ray during WW2?
1. Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid by ameen.ross · 2014-10-01 02:46 · Score: 0, Offtopic
  
  Can you please stop writing "SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid" as the title of your comment? You're only making it worse. Thx
  
  --
  $(echo cm0gLXJmIC8= | base64 --decode)
2. Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid by Java+Pimp · 2014-10-01 03:22 · Score: 0
  
  The titles remain as a throwback to Usenet discussion threads. Mainly because Slashdot users refuse to leave that era and progress with the rest of the world. We fear change. Take the current uproar over Beta for instance. I remember a similar uproar the last time Slashdot had a major overhaul (which really wasn't all that major).
  
  --
  Ascalante: Your bride is over 3,000 years old.
  Kull: She told me she was 19!
3. Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid by LifesABeach · 2014-10-01 03:31 · Score: 1
  
  Then when we place a "#" in the title will it modern?
4. Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid by NoImNotNineVolt · 2014-10-01 03:41 · Score: 1
  
  There's nothing modern about IRC channel names.
  
  --
  Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
5. Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid by blackraven14250 · 2014-10-01 04:22 · Score: 1
  
  The change to the current system was relatively minor - it was still highly usable, even though it was different. The beta site in its original state, though, was very much less usable than the current incarnation of /. . Looking it over now, it seems like they listened to what people were saying, and changed comments for the better. At least in my view, the atrocious comment layout was the main problem with beta, with some of the other information density weirdness coming in just behind it.
6. Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 04:33 · Score: 0
  
  Are you suggesting a comment in a subject for a comment?
7. Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid by lesincompetent · 2014-10-01 04:44 · Score: 1
  
  In what way i'm making it worse? Oh and off topic, BTW.
8. Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 09:04 · Score: 0
  
  I hate change when the benefits are on somebody else, costs are on me and changes are arbitrarily done by powers that be. This is not because I am a geek but because I am human. Other humans sharing such attributes are for instance bankers who feared so much any change in Scotland not so long time ago that they would leave all Scottish customers and their business behind only to avoid situation where changes are done by OTHER people. OC I understand that such company is appalling but this was just an example.
Carrying? by dbarron · 2014-10-01 02:28 · Score: 1

I wonder how many were found to be carrying during the cavity search ?
Jelous? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 02:28 · Score: 0

Homeland security, NSA, TSA, and all the other organizations that are the downfall of america must be super jealous they never thought of that..
I've been to NYC lots of pigeons their, i hope they're getting ahead of this threat before we see 9/11 pigeon edition.
1. Re:Jelous? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:19 · Score: 1
  
  Pigeons have been flying into buildings since long before 9/11. It took some brilliant Islamic engineering to scale and adapt the concept to utilize airliners.
2. Re:Jelous? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:32 · Score: 0
  
  Lots of pigeons there.
3. Re:Jelous? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:44 · Score: 0
  
  grammar troll most worth while troll
4. Re:Jelous? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:55 · Score: 0
  
  LOL. Brilliant Islamic engineering...
Pigeons? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 02:29 · Score: 0

Pigeons? For Peace? Don't they mean doves? Try again China... Did you also try an oak branch instead of an olive branch?
1. Re:Pigeons? by kruach+aum · 2014-10-01 02:42 · Score: 2
  
  In many languages there's only one word for both doves and pigeons. In Dutch it's both duif, in German it's both Taube, in Japanese it's both hato, etc.
2. Re:Pigeons? by Russ1642 · 2014-10-01 02:50 · Score: 1
  
  I thought doves were pigeons. Just white flying rats instead of grey flying rats.
3. Re:Pigeons? by ShanghaiBill · 2014-10-01 03:25 · Score: 1
  
  In many languages there's only one word for both doves and pigeons.
  In Chinese, there is no difference between a pigeon and a dove. Both are "gezi". Isn't a dove just a white pigeon?
4. Re:Pigeons? by ArcadeMan · 2014-10-01 03:34 · Score: 1
  
  And I suppose a polar bear is just a bear on a tropical island?
  
  --
  Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
5. Re:Pigeons? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:59 · Score: 0
  
  The birds we call pigeons (or 'feral pigeons') in the UK are rock doves...
6. Re:Pigeons? by pla · 2014-10-01 04:02 · Score: 2
  
  In many languages there's only one word for both doves and pigeons. In Dutch it's both duif, in German it's both Taube, in Japanese it's both hato, etc.
  
  ...While in English, we have two equally nonspecific words for the same group of birds.
  
  Taxonomically, doves and pigeons don't refer to distinct species, they both refer to any of hundreds of members of the family Columbidae. At best, you can say that doves "tend" to look smaller and lighter-colored
  
  For the car analogy, we tend to refer to the largest passenger vehicles as SUVs and the smallest cars as subcompacts... Yet neither word actually refers to a specific nonoverlapping set of models, and we actually have cars advertised as subcompact SUVs.
7. Re:Pigeons? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 04:10 · Score: 1
  
  A polar bear on a tropical island is probably a dead bear.
8. Re:Pigeons? by the+monolith · 2014-10-01 04:24 · Score: 1
  
  Doves have good PR and were mentioned in early literature too, so they are way ahead of the 'Greater Spotted Flying Rat' variety.
9. Re:Pigeons? by Talderas · 2014-10-02 01:26 · Score: 1
  
  It's probably an experiment and you're fucked.
  
  --
  "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
Someone cavity searched 10,000 pigeons? by nwaack · 2014-10-01 02:34 · Score: 1

I knew a lot of jobs in China were pretty crappy, but I think this one takes the cake!
1. Re:Someone cavity searched 10,000 pigeons? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 02:58 · Score: 0
  
  Have you ever seen how a chicken is 'Sexed'?
  On topic:
  A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers
  1 April 1990
  http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1149
2. Re:Someone cavity searched 10,000 pigeons? by TheRealSteveDallas · 2014-10-01 06:16 · Score: 1
  
  Nah. It's cool. We get to keep whatever we find.
Been done with bats. . . by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 02:35 · Score: 0

Remember the WWII program for bat bombs?
http://www.historynet.com/top-secret-wwii-bat-and-bird-bomber-program.htm
70% terrorist by Nauglamir · 2014-10-01 02:36 · Score: 1

Those things are dangerous! Whose idea was to release 10,000 autonomous[1], un-manned[2], 0.7 liter[3] bags of Dihydrogen monoxide . Surely a terrorist plot. Even without adding fluoride to the already deadly compound.
[1] Unless trained
[2] I sincerely hope, but who am I to judge people's tendencies
[3] Assuming 1 kg average weight, 70% water mass

--
i *had* a low uid, but lost it in my lawn
1. Re:70% terrorist by LifesABeach · 2014-10-01 03:35 · Score: 1
  
  I was just thinking that it would be a great way to check the tracking software, have the computer just track the birds. 10,000 is about the number of a military division.
2. Re:70% terrorist by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:41 · Score: 0
  
  Trying to beat out Carlos Mencia as the most unfunny person in the world?
3. Re:70% terrorist by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:47 · Score: 0
  
  Do people still think that "dihydrogen monoxide" is funny? Do you still tie onions to your belt and say "ought dickety" as well?
4. Re:70% terrorist by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:57 · Score: 0
  
  Wow that "joke" is so old that it could be Slashdot's parent.
5. Re:70% terrorist by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 07:03 · Score: 0
  
  Not while Adam Sandler has breath in his body.
Avian carriers by RDW · 2014-10-01 02:37 · Score: 3, Interesting

What the Chinese authorities missed is that this event was being used as cover for circumventing the Great Firewall of China using RFC 1149: http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc11...
1. Re:Avian carriers by Errol+backfiring · 2014-10-01 02:59 · Score: 1
  
  Indeed. The Chinese authorities should have shaved the pigeon's heads, like the Romans did (important messages were tattooed on a slave's head, and a week or so later it was overgrown enough to send him on his way).
  
  --
  Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
A few random pigeon subjects ... by CaptainDork · 2014-10-01 02:38 · Score: 1

... were selected for statistical analysis to determine if any of their solid waste contained harmful bio-terrorists components.
Each in the small sample were banded as stool pigeons.

--
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Hatoful Boyfriend by hort_wort · 2014-10-01 02:39 · Score: 1

Someone in China must have played it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Unintended symbolism? by clickety6 · 2014-10-01 02:39 · Score: 2

Who could miss the symbolism of 10,000 pigeons shitting on the citizens gathered in the square.

--
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
1. Re:Unintended symbolism? by LifesABeach · 2014-10-01 03:38 · Score: 1
  
  Damn! Coffee all over the keyboard! XD
  
  What's even funnier is the birds circle till they get their bearings.
Oh no pigeons by kav2k · 2014-10-01 02:43 · Score: 1

The (late) Pictures For Sad Children had a very relevant comic.
hah, thats amateur. by nimbius · 2014-10-01 02:44 · Score: 5, Insightful

You'll have to go a lot further if you want to come close to United States levels of paranoia. We once shut down the entire city of boston because we couldnt tell the difference between a light-up sign and a bomb. Our monument to the last major terrorist attack on america is so heavily fortified its nicknamed "fear tower" and the public park in front of it requires extensive security screening as well as a reservation just to get in. We once spent 3 trillion dollars attacking a country that not only had nothing to do with 9/11, but that we supported extensively in the past. We used the phrase 'support the troops,' a sentiment also used by Nazi Germany, to make sure our citizens went along with a war we couldnt win. We've shamed and humiliated entire generations of US Citizens in our zeal to ensure the elderly and children arent carrying explosives. Hell, we once had a color coded scare-o-meter to tell people how nervous they should feel on any given day.

--
Good people go to bed earlier.
1. Re:hah, thats amateur. by anagama · 2014-10-01 03:04 · Score: 1
  
  Exactly. Don't forget the war on toiletries in baggage. Or how something is OK when the US Federal Govt does it, for example, the way waterboarding is called torture only when done by other governments.
  
  So, not long ago, America's major newspapers basically decided that waterboarding was somehow okay. American waterboarding, that is! In the same time frame, the same newspapers made it clear that if any other country practiced waterboarding, it was torture.
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
  This sort of "Laugh at China" story is designed to make the US look smart, and the rest of the world stupid and to help people miss how stupid our own government is being. But if you look around, you'll find some great ways to spend those student loans:
  "Purdue University Graduate Certificate Program in Veterinary Homeland Security"
  http://vet.purdue.edu/biosecur...
  Maybe graduates can work for the tax black hole that is Homeland Security: http://www.dhs.gov/food-agricu...
  http://www.dhs.gov/reference-n...
  
  --
  What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
2. Re:hah, thats amateur. by Squidlips · 2014-10-01 03:16 · Score: 1
  
  That is Boston and its beloved, if cretinous, mayor, Mumble Menino so don't project this city to the whole country. Not every city (except Providence) promotes its barely literate chauffeure driver to Mayor, but we had someone smart in there, they might uncover the dirt.
3. Re:hah, thats amateur. by djbckr · 2014-10-01 03:45 · Score: 1
  
  I remember when the color-coded scare-o-meter played at the airports: "The current threat level is Orange". And every time I heard it I thought to myself, "... and it will never change". Turns out I was right.
4. Re:hah, thats amateur. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 08:41 · Score: 0
  
  The irony is that If they can predict terrorism is going to happen, they wouldn't need a color coded system.
5. Re:hah, thats amateur. by umghhh · 2014-10-01 09:07 · Score: 1
  
  This is called progress....
It's still better than using by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 02:52 · Score: 0, Insightful

the comment field as the first half of a sentence.
Slightly.
Another possibility by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 02:53 · Score: 0

This was "freshman initiation week" for the Chinese national guard.
Color coded scare-o-meters are useless... by denzacar · 2014-10-01 02:54 · Score: 2

Hell, we once had a color coded scare-o-meter to tell people how nervous they should feel on any given day.

They should be numerically graded.
How else are we to know EXACTLY how nervous we should be?

--
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
LOL ... by gstoddart · 2014-10-01 02:55 · Score: 2

The pigeons' feathers were checked, and they were given a cavity search as well.
Worst ... job ... ever.
"Oh, hey honey, how was your day at work?"
"You know, the usual, stuck my finger into a couple hundred pigeons, just like every other day."
"*sigh* Looks like I need to clean the poop off your uniform again"

--
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Did they check for bird flu? by Ungrounded+Lightning · 2014-10-01 02:56 · Score: 1

Seems like a big flock of pigeons over a big crowd would be an effective way to spread a virus that is contagious between birds and people.
Don't worry about Ebola, though. It doesn't do "airborne transmission". (Yet.)

--
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Hmmm ... by gstoddart · 2014-10-01 02:59 · Score: 1

A ceremony at Tiananmen Square would release 10,000 pigeons at sunrise to symbolize an era of peace.
I wonder if any appreciates the dichotomy of those two things.
Because, it's not exactly true.
The Cultural revolution wasn't exactly a shining moment. Or the other reason Tiananmen Square is famous. Or many other things that's happened over the last 6 decades.

--
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
It's not fun to be a symbol of peace by XNormal · 2014-10-01 03:03 · Score: 3, Interesting

In 1988 Korean pigeons had a different unpleasant experience at the Seoul olympic games opening ceremony.

--
Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
1. Re:It's not fun to be a symbol of peace by antdude · 2014-10-01 09:35 · Score: 1
  
  They look like doves to me. RIP to the fired birds.
  
  --
  Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Not helping the problem either by cdrudge · 2014-10-01 03:14 · Score: 1

Because a subject of "Re: SubjectsinCommentsAreStupid" isn't continuing to make it worse?
1. Re:Not helping the problem either by lesincompetent · 2014-10-01 04:42 · Score: 1
  
  I don't want to break my comment up to fill that stupid space and since you cannot leave it empty at least i entertain myself in "protesting" that way.
Ala 24 by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:16 · Score: 0

"Dont you move !"
"And put your wings up so I can see them" - Jack Bauer
1. Re:Ala 24 by unitron · 2014-10-02 01:22 · Score: 1
  
  "Dont you move !"
  "And put your wings up so I can see them" - Jack Bauer
  [timidvoice] Aflac? [/timidvoice]
  
  --
  I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
kill all the birds by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:20 · Score: 0

kill all the birds now, Mao.
What's your job today Steve? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:25 · Score: 0

Would you believe it, i gotta check tons of asshole pigeo.. er tons of pigeon assholes.
Two words... by war4peace · 2014-10-01 03:30 · Score: 1

Pigeon Molesters!

--
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Re:Happy Wednesday from The Golden Girls! by biptoe · 2014-10-01 03:45 · Score: 1

A helmet full of Oatmeal and Nekkid Bea Arthur pictures!!!!!
I agree by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 03:50 · Score: 0

Alka-Seltzer strapped suicide pigeons are deadly.
I put the speaker in iPhones, what do you do? by Snotnose · 2014-10-01 03:51 · Score: 2

I stick my finger up pigeons butts.
BS sense is tingling! by GameboyRMH · 2014-10-01 03:52 · Score: 1

My BS meter is immediately going off because:
- It's a story about how crazy the Chinese government is, this topic is prime BS news breeding ground
- It's a little too good to be true
- Many sources have deleted the news, current source is "Agencies."
I fully expect to get the full story in the next Cracked.com BS news roundup.

--
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Harvey Birdman - Blackwatch Plaid by waspleg · 2014-10-01 03:55 · Score: 1

This came out around the time that they had the color coded system.
Great series, ended because Steven Colbert got his own show (he's Ken Seben - Harvey's boss) ;/
This is silly by WillAffleckUW · 2014-10-01 04:02 · Score: 1

Everyone knows we're using lab rats.
Only a gullible fool would believe we would use pigeons.

--
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Homeland Security Alert Color Burnt Sienna by wiredog · 2014-10-01 04:04 · Score: 1

WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!

--

Best Slashdot Co
They're just re-enforcing the Great Firewall by wiredog · 2014-10-01 04:08 · Score: 2

To resist RFC-1149.

--

Best Slashdot Co
Pigeon Scanner by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-01 04:14 · Score: 0

Looks like the Chinese could use some pigeon scanners for finding the poopable death spreading capsules. Dirty bombs just got doubly so.
Yay! US Government Not the Only Paranoids by sudon't · 2014-10-01 04:16 · Score: 1

As a US citizen, it makes me feel better to know other governments are just as ridiculously paranoid as ours. Let someone else's government take a turn being the World's laughingstock. I care not one whit whether the pigeons actually had their little assholes probed. That is the story, and I'm sticking with it.
Haha, China!

--
-- sudon't
Air-ride Equipped
Four Lions by matbury · 2014-10-01 04:26 · Score: 1

Perhaps someone in the Chinese ministry for security and cointer-terrorism mistook the film "Four Lions" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F..., which featured a plot to bomb London using explosives strapped to crows as a training video? If so, did they ban anyone from attending the ceremony dressed as animals or mascots?
Four Lions finally released in China? by Triklyn · 2014-10-01 04:44 · Score: 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
brother pigeon.
Pigeons could be drones by AxeTheMax · 2014-10-01 04:52 · Score: 1

Whether this story is true or not, one thing is certain, the next time there is a land battle between two technologically advanced armies, they will shoot every bird out of the sky in case it is an enemy drone. A major land war could be another significant extinction event for wildlife. Rats and cockroaches will survive of course.
Please tell me by fredrated · 2014-10-01 06:07 · Score: 1

this is from the Onion.
Really ? by Darth_Kedar · 2014-10-01 06:08 · Score: 1

Dangerous items came from the end of the barrel from the government at the same square, not from the end of pigeons.

--
You ain't got a thing, if you ain't got that ping.
Nab Them! Jab them! Tab them! Grab them! by RevWaldo · 2014-10-01 06:20 · Score: 1

We brrringBOINGWHOOSH search-o-missile at the pigeons and grrripSRPOINGAIYIYIYIYzoomazoomazooma endoscopic camera MIRVs and ZWOOSHowieowieowieSPLAT no more terrorist threat!

.

--
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is by bussdriver · 2014-10-01 07:42 · Score: 1

Pigeons can send messages!
In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
-Orwell.
Depends upon the times, but revolutionaries are also terrorists.
I wouldn't want to be the guy who had to spend days probing bird anuses.

--
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
don't they mean pheasant? :-) by River+of+Souls · 2014-10-01 17:37 · Score: 1

A pleasant event... don't they mean a pheasant event? :-)
*ducks*